Chief Tracy Wyant, Taylorsville

The following is a letter we received from Becki Church of Taylorsville.

“Last August I was in a terrible car accident. Bank robbers running from the police on a high speed chase drove into oncoming traffic and slammed into my car head on. The collision was horrific. I was knocked unconscious, and ended up in the hospital with 14 broken bones, among other things.

My 9 month old dog was in the car with me. My dog was and is my world. Amazingly, he wasn’t harmed by the collision more than just bruising. The next couple days as I was regaining my mental faculties, I was told the details of the accident. My brother, a first responder himself, told me about the men that had pulled me out of the car and kept me alive. All of these men are incredible. I wish I could thank them all.

However, when I was told that my dog was in the car with me, I was instantly overcome with emotion. My brother told me my dog was okay and was safe. As the story unfolded, I was told that Sheriff Tracy Wyant, a dog lover himself, knew instinctively that my dog meant something to me. After making sure I was stable and the other men had things under control with me, Tracy cautiously approached my dog, Nalu, who was found sitting on the crushed dashboard looking down on my broken body. Nalu was apprehensive, but seemed to welcome the help from him . Tracy took him in his arms and put him in his squad car, having every intention of taking care of him until I was okay. Tracy came into contact with my brother the next day, and Nalu was taken into my brother’s care.

For the next few months after that day, Tracy made sure to reach out to me a couple times a month and see how I was healing, even going so far as to come by and visit me in the hospital, and later as I was healing in the rehab center. And he always asked about Nalu.

I have no idea how to express the gratitude in my heart for all of those men that helped me that day, but especially for Tracy going out of his way to show care and compassion to a total st r anger . I will be forever grateful to him for showing my dog care as well, as I know how scared the poor pup must have been . We need more people like him in the world.”